Pa. Commissioner Revokes Pittsburgh Agency’s License

Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner M. Diane Koken on Wednesday announced the license revocation of Michael D. Newton, Jr. of the J. Catherine Newton Insurance Agency in Pittsburgh.

“Not only has Mr. Newton shown a total disregard for law and authority, ignored Pennsylvania insurance statutes and failed to remit policyholder premiums, he committed an even greater offense – he took advantage of the policyholders who put their trust in him,” Koken said. “Insurance is a promise of protection. Mr. Newton broke his promise to policyholders, and for that, he is being punished to fullest extent of the law.”

According to the Commissioner’s adjudication and order, available on the Department’s Web site in the Enforcement Actions section, Newton took applications for insurance and failed to forward the applications to the insurance companies, failed to remit the down payments or premium payments to the insurance companies and repeatedly made misrepresentations to consumers concerning the status of their applications, policies and premium payments. These actions took place over the course of two and a half years.

The order requires Newton to cease and desist and pay restitution to any consumer or company suffering financial harm as a result of his actions. In addition, his license is revoked for a minimum of 20 years and he must pay a penalty in the sum of $95,000.

To view the Department’s Bureau of Enforcement pages, consumers should log onto the Pennsylvania Insurance Department Web site http://www.insurance.state.pa.us/ and hit the “Enforcement Actions” link on the left-hand side of the homepage.